Tony-OH

They were from last year's piece, since we have no new information on them, I just added them onto this year's piece.

Just something to wet the appetite for the 2021 season. http://www.orioleshangout.com/2021/01/17/beyond-the-2020-top-30/

Not a lot of new information from me but put some things together including some video's and where I would rank Hernandez and Basallo in the top 30 list.

Interesting analysis. Good work.

Eshleman is a guy who was born 30 years too late. He's a Dave Johnson type guy with below average stuff who pitches with pure guile to get batters out. In this day and age, with all the statcast information to tell everyone how bad his stuff really is and with being a low strikeout contact pitcher, he really will always have to prove it on the mound. Last year he was an effective mop up guy who can eat some innings and save the bullpen, and that's the role I think he can do decent enough at to have some value. He's not a guy you want to throw out there every 5 days as a starter because when his control is off, he's going to get hammered and he'll destroy your bullpen. Plus, he's not really a guy that should go through a lineup more than 1 or 2 times. Last year his slider, despite still being below average in both vertical (-3.7 inches vs avg, -8%) and horizontal (-1.8 inches vs avg, -16%) movement, was the pitch he threw the most and had the most success with as batters put up just a ..193 OBA and a very good .258 XWOBA. He even got a solid 36.4% WHIF rate on the pitch, so he ended up with a goto pitch that he actually pitched off of most games. When he sinks his 86 MPH fastball he can have some success, but not surprisingly when it doesn't sink, he gets hammered. So basically Eshleman is a junkballing right-hander that can spot start and pitch in long/mop up duties if he makes the team. If he's in the rotation on opening day, then something went wrong. As the Rotation should be: 1. Means 2. Cobb 3. Kremer 4. Akin 5. Zimmermann Notice I don't have Jorge Lopez in there. Lopez has had way too many opportunities at the major league level to show he can be a consistent major league starter. It's time to make him a fastball/curveball reliever and see if that roles works for him, if not, there's no room on this team for him.

By their signing bonuses alone they belong in the 20-30 range, but there is just so little on them and no statistics that it really would be on that alone. They basically are two mid to late second round talents by signing bonus. Looking at my list and based off the comments, signing bonus and what little we know, I'd probably drop them in the 17 and 18 on the list right behind Mayo and Baumler. But again, that could be way low or way high.

Have they announced that for sure? I saw they said the season would be delayed for AA and A and that spring training would not be until major league and AAA players had left (doesn't make a ton of sense but ok).

I also like the extended rosters. At least keep 26 all season but I would not be against 27 or 28 again.

I think this is probably on point. Unless there are a miraculous changes in how governors and mayors have operated during this pandemic, my guess is major league baseball goes into some social distance seating arrangements. I believe they will ask MiLB to do the same.

That makes sense for all involved. Looking forward to seeing a healthy Trey next season on the field.

Orioles sign 17 International Free Agents http://www.orioleshangout.com/2021/01/17/orioles-sign-17-international-players-highlighted-by-basallo-and-hernandez/

Hah, I still do this all the time.. Yeah, that was a pretty big one as well. BTW, in a related note, I really enjoyed watching Tejada as an Oriole.

When was the last fun offseason in Baltimore? 1995-96?

I used to think that way, but I'm not so sure anymore. With the Orioles loss of revenue from the MASN situation along with the cut into their fanbase areas by the Nationals, I'm not so sure the Orioles will ever be at the top free agent additions again. Elias and company are going to have to start acting like Tampa because I'm not so sure we're much different anymore financially.

Good luck to Brandon in his future endeavors. He always was a stand up guy and showed a lot of perseverance in returning from significant injuries to pitch in the big leagues.

Perhaps, and I honestly don't know if the Padres want to trade him or what they would want and whether that would make sense for the Orioles. Before his breakout year, his minor league number were pretty pedestrian which could hurt his overall value. If the Padres are still able to get him almost full-time at bats, then they probably won't move him unless they can get a missing piece for their World Series run next season. I honestly don't even know their current needs. We ended dup on a conversation about Hays and Diaz due to the OPs suggestion he would trade either of them for him. Basically we're at that time of year that anything to discuss will be ad-nauseum. lol

Because the Padres just acquired Ha-seong Kim to a four-year contract and now he most likely does not have a starting spot with them, Because of that, they might be inclined to move him if they think he has starter value around the league.

I was waiting on that response. Hays was hurt most of that year and the one thing Hays has shown is when he's heatthy he produces at a high level. He struggles with long lay off which is was part of his slow start to this season on my opinion. I do agree that Diaz has a better chance to be a higher OBP player, but I don't think he's nearly as good or fast defensively as Hays and I think Hays has better game power, though that was not real evident last year in the shortened season. I 100% agree with you that you can't count on either to stay healthy for an entire season, but that may be more of a concern for Hays now that he's struggled, even in a partial season to stay healthy for the whole season. Personally, I'm not as high on Diaz as Hays but I do think he's got the upside of a every day corner outfielder, especially since he seems to play better on a big stage and his appears bored at times during a long grind of a minor league season. Right now we have both so that's good, but if I had to move one for a player, personally I'd move Diaz

Diaz is average at best defensively and looses focus at times defensively and on the base paths. Diaz has never been able to bring his above average raw power into the game consistently and he's only one year younger than Hays and hays has already shown the ability to hit Major league pitching. Both have health concerns but when healthy, Hays slashed .330/.367/.594/.960 in AA at 21 years of age when Diaz slashed .262/.335/.472/.807 at 22 in AA. Hays to me is a much better player overall and has a much better chance to stick in center than Diaz who probably should be a corner outfielder. Now maybe Diaz puts his raw skills together and perhaps his penchant for playing big on the big stage will result in him doing better at the major league level than in the boring mostly empty minor league parks, but I think hays will end up the much better big league player when it's all said and done.

He's entering his prime at 27 next season. That's young enough to be a decent piece for now. Again, I wouldn't give up a top prospect for him, but if the Padres wanted a Yusniel Diaz type of guy I think he could be decent look at 2B or possibly even SS until guys like Westburg and Henderson are ready.

Yeah, but he's young and cheap enough to be someone I could see him wanting. He has a little outfield depth to work with as well.

I'm not really taking too much out of his major league numbers at SS because he only played a handful of games there. But, the fact that he was moved around a lot in the minors suggests he's probably not an everyday shortstop defensively. I have never seen him play so I really can't say, but I'd certainly give him a look there in the spring. He's worth a shot in my opinion, but I wouldn't trade Hays for him even though Hays has been injury prone. I still think Hays ends up a solid every day outfielder who can play center.

I'd take him and would be willing to give up Diaz for him as well, but he's most likely a 2B, not a SS. His offensive statcast percentile rankings are crazy good, but he did struggle a bit over his last month. Here's a good take on him: https://www.eastvillagetimes.com/padres-jake-cronenworth-positives-negatives-outlook/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=padres-jake-cronenworth-positives-negatives-outlook

I wouldn't get too caught up in the word "underrated" since they're just trying to keep some content fresh and talking about guys.

I really felt that MLB dropped the ball with the minor leagues last year. They could have put these players and coaches into spring training complexes in FL and AZ and got them some more games and experience. But, that's over and hopefully we will get a full minor league season this year, or at least some kind of significant season for players.